IDRC Research Chair for Ethiopia, Abebaw Minaye, co-authored article on knowledge and attitude of residents in the host and destination about trafficked children and their experiences.

Abstract

Child trafficking is a serious violation of childrenā€™s rights under international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Research on this issue in Ethiopia is limited, with few studies assessing public awareness and attitudes. This study aims to examine the knowledge and attitudes of residents in Wolaita Sodo town regarding in-country child trafficking using a mixed-methods approach with 448 participants. The research team collected data through structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews. For data analysis, the researchers used SPSS 26.0 software, applied descriptive and inferential statistical analysis wherever applicable, and analyzed qualitative data thematically. The findings revealed that the majority of participants (55%) lacked adequate knowledge about child trafficking, with the qualitative results supporting this finding. In contrast, 55.9% of participants exhibited positive attitudes toward child trafficking.

A significant correlation was found between knowledge levels and attitudes, with education and personal experiences playing a critical role. Multivariate analysis revealed that individuals with a first-degree education or higher were 3.25 times (1.21-8.81, p<0.05) more likely to possess a good knowledge of child trafficking compared to those who were less educated. Additionally, individuals with trafficked family members had 3.36 times (1.59-6.81) greater knowledge of child trafficking. In a similar vein, participants who had a first degree or higher educational qualification were 2.31 times (1.29-4.34, p<0.05) less likely to harbor negative attitudes toward victims of child trafficking and anti-trafficking initiatives compared to their less-educated counterparts. Furthermore, individuals with family members who had been trafficked were 0.44 times (0.47-0.27, p<0.05) less likely to display negative attitudes than
those without such experiences. Despite their positive attitudes, most participants lacked comprehensive knowledge of child trafficking, highlighting the gap between awareness and actionable understanding. This suggests that positive attitudes may not translate into informed action without adequate knowledge. The study recommends targeted educational initiatives to bridge this gap and improve public understanding and engagement.

This Policy Brief is a result of Global South Perspectives on Internally Displaced People webinar organized by IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Displacement, 13 February, 2025. It featured Paula Gaviria Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and four IDRC Research Chairs, Abebaw Minaye (Ethiopia), Hiram Angel (Mexico), Sawsan Abdulrahim (Beirut) and Houwayda Matta Bou Ramia (Lebanon). The speakers reflected on some of the work priorities, methods and challenges presented in the report, specifically in the current geo-political context, and ask,Ā what has changed and what has stayed the same given changing global dynamics over the two years since the publication of the report.

To view the full webinar and read the summary, click here.

In 2024, the UN Secretary-Generalā€™s Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement will wrap up the work on this issue begun by his High-Level Panel in 2020 and continued under his Action Agenda. These processes reflect a longstanding preoccupation that, despite decades of efforts including the 1998 UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the humanitarian reform, the acute needs of many internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain unmet and, globally, long-term solutions to their situation appear elusive.

This conference provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and students from all disciplines to come together to present, debate and reflect on ā€˜solutionsā€™ to internal displacement and their future. It offered the chance to develop new research agendas and collaborations. Alongside keynote presentations, it hosted ā€˜thematicā€™ and ā€˜openā€™ panel sessions to share research and analysis from academia and from policy/practice.

IDRC Research Chairs, Dr. Nyi Nyi kyaw, Dr. Abebaw Minaye, and Dr. Fouad M Fouad, presented at the “Not All IDPs are the Same: Working towards Different ‘Solutions’ for Different IDPs” thematic panel sessions.

Not All Myanmar IDPs (2011-) Are the Same

Speaker: Dr. Nyi Nyi Kyaw (IDRC Research Chair, Chiang Mai University, Thailand)

This paper will discuss three different waves of internal displacement of more than 2 million in Myanmar from 2011 until late 2023 and highlight that ethnic conflict, religious conflict, and political conflict have resulted in those waves. It will then argue that different solutions are required and must be tailed to help solve the three waves.

Seeking Solutions to Unprecedented Internal Displacement in Ethiopia

Speaker: Dr. Abebaw Minaye (IDRC Research Chair, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)

The multidimensional plights of close to 4 million IDPs in Ethiopia have taken a back seat in the policy debates in the country. Ethiopia has not adopted adequate legal and institutional frameworks for the protection of IDPs (Djigisa, 2019). Neither does the international community pay sufficient attention to the problem. Ethiopia lacks a comprehensive dedicated framework to ameliorate the plight of IDPs. One of the most relevant provisions was the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) policy of 2013 with its associated Strategic Programme (Habte & Kweon, 2018). Though Ethiopia has ratified the Kampala Convention, there is neither a legal nor policy framework that gives domestic effect to the Convention. Though Ethiopia has recently joined the UNā€™s Durable Solutions Initiative (2019), existing normative frameworks do not comprehensively respond to the specific needs of IDPs (Dagne, 2021), and transitional, developmental and durable solutions are not being implemented properly. Sometimes pushes by the government for IDPsā€™ return to their original environments that remain violent do more harm than help. In some cases, IDPs are experiencing emotional statelessness. Focus is often much more on charity, where the private sector is required to give alms, than on creation of business and entrepreneurial activities that benefit and empower IDPs. I want to discuss the following possible solutions. First, engagement and representation of IDPs in community-based organizations to help them articulate their concerns and possible mitigation strategies. Second, government should better cooperate with host communities by aligning support to IDPs with local development endeavours than pressuring IDPs to return. Third, addressing systemic threats for example by respecting the rights of ethnic minorities in ethnic majority regions and revising federal and regional constitutions. Fourth, embracing a whole-of-government approach that engages various sectoral government offices with better coordination mechanism so that no one will be left behind.

Ā IDPs in Northwest Syria – How to Address Need in Non-State Entity

Speaker: Dr. Fouad M Fouad (IDRC Research Chair, American University of Beirut, Lebanon)

Syria has the highest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world, with 6.7 million people being forced from their homes since the uprising began in 2011. Women and children constitute at least two-thirds of those who are displaced. The IDPs are unevenly distributed across the four primary territories controlled by various conflict parties, with only one being under government control. Each of these territories has evolved differently, with different leadership and governance structures, financing, and priorities. I will argue that the 2.5 million IDPs who crossed the power borders (but not the international borders) to northwest Syria, which is governed by non-state groups, require a different solution to address their needs when compared to IDPs who moved within territories controlled by the government.

View the conference programme for a full list of panel sessions, keynote speakers, and hosts:

Back Row: A. Girmachew Zewdu (Ethiopia), Desiree Del Rosario (Chair, Dominican Republic), Sheila Martinez (Dominican Republic), Heather Alexander (Canada), Abebaw Minaye (Chair, Ethiopia), Roula El-Rifai (IDRC), T. Alain Ouedraogo (Chair, Burkina Faso), Opportuna Kweka (Chair, Tanzania); Front Row: Ramata Thioune (IDRC), Amal El Ouassif (Chair, Morocco), Caroline Ford (IDRC). Not shown: Paula Banerjee (Chair, Thailand) and James Milner (Canada)

Following their inaugural workshop in Dar es-Salaam in May, five of the IDRC Research Chairs on Forced Displacement (Desiree Del Rosario, Abebaw Minaye, Tiga Alain Ouedraogo, Opportuna Kweka, Amal El Ouassif, and Paula Banerjee) gathered to discuss the crisis of climate displacement from a Global South perspective. The forum was an informal workshop held on the margins of the Global South Summit on Climate Displacement at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Rabat, Morocco from 1-3 November. The debate was urgent and spirit. At stake, the need for new approaches to climate displacement.

The lively debate touched on issues as diverse as framing and terminology to the environmental impact of refugee camps. The result was a list of policy recommendations for governments and the international community, including the pressing need to mainstream climate change and the environment throughout all forced displacement policy, while also mainstreaming forced displacement into every aspect of climate change policy, breaking down the silos that impede holistic solutions.

One theme that emerged from the debate was the need to keep the focus on the inherent dignity of people and the responsibility of governments to be transparent and to protect both their own citizens, but also migrants and displaced persons. The Chairs noted that many best practices can be found not only in the practices of some governments, but in the knowledge and expertise of displaced persons, refugees, indigenous communities, and nomadic pastoralists, who often know best how to balance human activity and conservation. The discussion stressed the need for localized and local responses that are tailored to each community; what works best in a refugee camp in Tanzania might not work in an urban setting in Ethiopia. Finally, Chairs highlighted the specific issue of access to data on climate displacement, and the need to better incorporate climate displacement data into development indices.

Results and recommendations from the Workshop will be presented at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva in December, and the Network will propose a plan of action for climate change conferences, to ensure that displacement remains a major focus of the global climate change agenda.

Climate Call to Action:

Together, we acknowledge the deeply interconnected and interdependent nature of the nexus between climate change and forced displacement.
Building on existing Global South agreements, tools, fora and knowledge; Adopting and endorsing the conclusions of the Global South Summit on Climate Displacement, held by the research chair at Mohammad VI Polytechnic University in Rabat from 1-3 November 2023; Seeking to draw on best practices from the Global South, we urge governments, international organizations and the international community to commit to:

1. Ensure that responses to climate and environmental displacement are localized, situational and country specific;
2. Encourage the comprehensive management of environmental displacement policies including the governance of natural resources, disaster response, migration and forced displacement;
3. Integrate local perspectives (refugees, host communities, migrants, displaced and stateless persons) at every level and stage of national adaptation and mitigation policymaking;
4. Centre decolonial and indigenous knowledge and practices in climate displacement and environmental policy (including natural resource and land use), and place indigenous expertise at the forefront of climate solutions.
5. Integrate considerations of race, gender, and diverse identity intersections with climate change and displacement;
6. Foster a positive narrative around climate displaced persons and host communities;
7. Promote collaboration and mechanisms for partnership among State actors, civil society, private sector and impacted individuals;
8. Capitalize on regional integration mechanisms to encourage regional solutions;
9. Promote South-South platforms on climate displacement at national, regional, and global levels for learning, coordination, and best practices;
10. Ensure that research, data and statistics on the nexus between climate and displacement are publicly available, and incorporate climate change impact analyses in all research and publications.

Abstract:

This study aimed at developing a model that describes and explains blended family formation in Ethiopia. It is part of an ongoing dissertation entitled ā€œFamily functioning experiences of blended families in Ethiopia.ā€ We employed constructivist grounded theory both as a method and result of inquiry. This theory states that knowledge is constructed out of the dynamic interaction between the researcher, participants, and the context. Accordingly, we were informed by the guiding principles, data organization and analytical tools the theory provides. We interviewed fourteen participants drawn from seven families. We developed a model that depicted the major contributing factors to blend, and the procedures partners use to form their families in the context of Ethiopia. The study identified the state partners were in, categorized as problem state and aspiration state, before blending as contributing factors. Problem state refers to the challenging situation partners were in due to several factors. Aspiration state refers to the situation of partners who were seeking for a marriage partner for the betterment of their life. The result also showed partnersā€™ decision and action of blending were influenced by community and family members involvement. We discussed the results in light of the Ubuntu philosophy, the Ukama and the Ujamaa African theories. Finally, we provided recommendations that Ā would give insight to enhance the quality of blended family formation in Ethiopia.

°Õ¾±³¾±š:ĢżTime: 9:000AMā€”11:00AM

Location: AAU Registrar RN 304

The Research Chair for Forced Displacement and Migration Studies at AAU, Abebaw Minaye, hosted at the College of Education and behavioral Studies, invites all interested to attend its second Monthly public lecture series for the year. The lecture will be held on 04 Jan 2024 on Displacement Economies and Livelihoods.

Speakers

Fekadu Adugna

Dr. Fekadu Adugna is Associate Professor of social anthropology at AAU. He has published several studies in peer reviewed journals on forced displacement and migration issues. Dr. Fekadu has led several multicountry research projects funded by EUā€™s Horizon and UK Global Challenge Research Fund. He is the member of the Research chair and will speak on Displacement Economy.

Pierre Jaubert

Pierre Jaubert is Programme Manager in Better Migration Management-Horn of Africa, GIZ. He has Masterā€™s Degree in international and humanitarian law. As a practitioner, Jaubert has long years of experience in the management of forced displacement in Africa. He will speak on access to livelihood/employment/education for migrants and forcibly displaced people.

Biruk Amha

Biruk Amha, Program Component Manager at GIZ-QEP, will join Jaubert to speak on the same issue. Biruk has MEd in Curriculum and Instruction. He is working for GIZ with the responsibility to manage refugee and host community education and training for self reliance in collaboration with public TVET colleges and companies.A

Last week, it was my privilege to accompany the twelve IDRC Research Chairs on Forced Displacement to the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva. Organized by UNHCR, the goal of the GRF is to get member states to make pledges to help refugees, both within their countries and abroad. In the past, the role of refugees, displaced persons, stateless persons, academics, non-governmental organizations, and others has been very much relegated to second place compared to states, who UNHCR correctly sees as the key to improving global refugee policy. Governments, however, are not very good at coming up with new ideas on their own, and often lack the knowledge and expertise to formulate better policy. In short, an event like the GRF needs to move beyond statements by member states to highlight fresh ideas and perspectives.

This year, UNHCR has clearly recognized this need, bringing hundreds of persons with lived experience to the event and giving them speaking roles, alongside making space for the vital insights and expertise of academia, NGOs and others. The IDRC Research Chairs, however, brought something unique: an academic perspective from the Global South, with a focus on evidence-based research and policy solutions that is often lacking within the NGO and activist communities, and a voice from the regions and countries most affected by displacement, which is often missing from academia. It was this unique combination of authenticity and rigor that really highlighted the power of localized academic networks like the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Displacement

Some highlights included interim Morocco Chair Amal El Ouassif introducing the Chairs Network to outgoing Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs and explaining what South-South academic research and networking can mean to our collective understanding of forced displacement, as well as how it can be used as tool by UNHCR to find innovative and evidence-based durable solutions, something that is lacking in todayā€™s policy debates. Chair Paula Banerjee met with the UNHCR Statelessness Unit to discuss next steps for the emerging Global Alliance on statelessness, and Chair Nyi Nyi Kyaw moderated an event at the Refugee Impact Hub, on Collaborating with academic partners to advance refugee-led advocacy: Tips, tricks and networks.

Tanzania Chair Opportuna Kweka made an intervention at Academic Workshop on Evidence-based implementation of the GCR: What role for academia?, moderated by IDRC Research Chairs Abebaw Minaye and Luisa Feline Freier, where she discussed the impact that localization can have on the legitimacy and rigor of field research on forced displacement. The workshop allowed for a conversation between the IDRC Research Chairs and the UNHCR de Mello Chairs, along with other academics based in the Global South, providing a unique opportunity for South-South academic exchange.

Thailand Chair Paula Banerjee gave remarks at the High-Level Side Event ā€œShifting Power,ā€ at which IDRC President Julie Delahanty also spoke. This event, co-organized by the governments of Brazil and Canada, provided a unique forum for Professor Banerjee discussed the need for franker and more open acknowledgement of the role of racism and discrimination in driving forced displacement, and the need to adopt a truly gender transformative lens at every level of research and policy.
Other highlights included Lebanon Chair Fouad M. Fouad speaking at the High-level side event: Middle East and North Africa Solutions, and Chairs Hiram Angel and Opportuna Kweka intervening in two other side events on climate action and localization. Dr. Angel read the Chairsā€™ Call to Action on Climate Displacement to the room of diplomats and affected persons.

Finally, taking advantage of being able to meet in person, the Chairs had a three-hour brainstorming session, planning for the next phase of the Network, which will include innovative and unique collaborative research. With the Chairs Network stilly in its first year, it was truly amazing to see the impact already felt at the global level, and I know that many actors are looking forward to what the Chairs will accomplish in the next five years, and what an impact they will make at the next GRF.